“The Memory Card” is a seasonal feature that dissects and honors some of the most artistic, innovative, and memorable videogame moments of all time.
I can’t believe this is the fourth season finale of the Memory Card. I remember writing this feature for the first time more than three years ago. Wow. Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess. Anyway, thanks to everyone for reading, commenting, and ultimately supporting this series after all these years. It means the world to me.
With Memory Card season finales, I like to focus on moments from more recent games that have an extra dramatic impact on me. For me, focusing on a recent moment not only allows the opportunity for gamers of all ages to reminisce, it reassures me that videogames -- and the emotions they elicit -- are still going strong.
For this season finale, I chose to focus on a moment that is unlike any I have ever experienced in a videogame before. I may even go so far as to say it is in the upper tier of my favorite videogame sequences of all time. I really love it that much.
The moment is in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PlayStation 3. Since this moment makes me unbelievably emotional on several levels, I am just going to keep it simple and say hit the jump. I don’t want to embarrass myself or jam one of keyboard keys with any lone, shame-filled tears. This moment is haunting, beautiful, innovative ... yeah ... just hit the jump. You won’t regret it and certainly won’t ever forget it.
Have a happy and safe New Year! See you all next season!
The Set-Up
In what was originally intended to be a conclusion to the revered Metal Gear Solid series, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was released for the PlayStation 3 back in the summer of 2008. Following the critically-acclaimed Metal Gear Solid 3 for the PlayStation 2, Metal Gear Solid 4 had a lot to live up to. Not only did it have to, at the very least, equal the quality of its magnificent predecessor, it needed to somehow tie up the amazingly convoluted story and offer a conclusion that was satisfying to fans.
Metal Gear Solid 4 delivered on every level.
I already covered a classic moment from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on The Memory Card before (the epic final battle between Solid and Liquid!), so if you want to get a fuller view of the game’s story, click here for that article. For this week’s feature, I will just be talking about events leading up to this specific moment.
Whereas Metal Gear Solid 3 was a prequel to the series (putting the player in the role of main character Big Boss), Metal Gear Solid 4 returns to continuing the story in the rugged, well-worn boots of series mainstay Solid Snake.
Having aged to the point of becoming wrinkly and gray because of the lethal biological weapon FOXDIE that runs in his blood, Snake starts Metal Gear Solid 4 feeling that he is near the end of his life. After traveling to many different locations over past adventures (including, but not limited to, Shadow Moses in MGS1 and Big Shell in MGS2), Snake is feeling the weight of the men he has killed and the impossible tasks he has been forced to complete.
In Metal Gear Solid 4, Snake is sent on a mission (both for his colleagues and himself) to once and for all put an end to antagonist Liquid Ocelot, Snake’s series-spanning nemesis who is determined to control a complicated form of nanomachines called the “Guns of the Patriots.”
This being a Metal Gear Solid game, things get complicated fast, but never so much to feel entirely overwhelming. I guess that is one of the reasons the Metal Gear games are so great.
Unlike previous games in the Metal Gear Solid series, Guns of the Patriots is structured in multiple acts, each act taking place at a different location. While this helps progress the story and constantly changes up the look and feel of the game, switching between locations prevents Metal Gear Solid 4 from ever really having the “open-world,” non-linear structure of, most notably, MGS1 and MGS2. In those two games, one main location was used throughout, allowing Snake (and, in turn, the player) to wander back and forth to discover new secrets in the same environment.
This is not so much a complaint about Metal Gear Solid 4 as it is an observation about how different it is in the series. It also helps to mention this as it sets up what makes this Memory Card moment all the more powerful.
In his quest to pursue Liquid, Snake begins his epic, technically flawless trek through Metal Gear Solid 4 in the Middle East. Here, he partakes in a huge battle and meets up with some old friends (and enemies), some not seen since the days of Shadow Moses in the original Metal Gear Solid.
After finding out the information he needs, Snake heads to South America and Eastern Europe in the next two acts, respectively. Besides being filled with the expected breathless set pieces and unforgettable moments, Acts 2 and 3 further the story established in MGS4 and help tie up the many loose ends that have been dangling throughout all the Metal Gear Solid games.
At the very end of Act 3, along a river in Eastern Europe, Snake is confronted by Liquid and his goons. The bloody and dramatic confrontation leaves Snake with a horrible burn, and even worse, finds one of his allies dead.
Before making his escape, Snake plants a robotic device on Liquid’s ship. Before it is destroyed, it sends a last minute transmission to Snake informing him of Liquid’s next move. Liquid plans on retrieving a non-IDed warhead and using it to send out a nuclear strike using the railgun from Metal Gear Rex. For people unfamiliar with the series, Metal Gear Rex is the massive robotic weapon Snake battles at the very end of the original Metal Gear Solid.
Snake’s plan to stop Liquid before he finds the warhead is obvious. What is not so obvious is the location that Liquid chooses to retrieve this nuclear warhead from. It is here when this week’s Memory Card moment occurs: The return to Shadow Moses.
The Moment
As you can tell by the name of this Memory Card, Snake finds out that Liquid is returning to Shadow Moses to steal the warhead. Shadow Moses is the location of the original Metal Gear Solid.
On his way to the facility, while flying in the helicopter, Snake has a vision of his original journey through Shadow Moses. In a brilliantly creative decision, the flashback Snake has can be fully controlled by the player. Even cooler, it is displayed in the graphics of the original PlayStation, giving the sequence a completely authentic feel.
As Snake reaches Shadow Moses in his flashback, it is like the player is experiencing the original game all over again.
Before he makes it too far, though, Snake is woken up as the helicopter hovers above its destination.
After being dropped off in the middle of a snowy mountain top, Snake slowly makes his way through the ridiculously thick flurries towards the old facility. The snow pounds on his old face as he makes his way around dying trees and over sharp rocks.
The snow is thick, making visibility almost nonexistent. Because of this, Snake doesn’t immediately recognize his surroundings. Through the cold wall of snow, the angled cliffs don’t look familiar to Snake.
It isn’t until he makes his way around one clearing when everything falls into place.
As soon as Snake journeys around a large rock wall, the snow lets up, revealing before him an all-too-familiar site.
Snake’s boots leave the crunching snow and land on a hard, metallic surface.
Standing before Snake is the heliport of Shadow Moses -- the exact same place he started his adventure in the original Metal Gear Solid.
Although every last detail is intact, things have aged dramatically since the facility was abandoned many years ago. As Snake walks around, key locations trigger flashbacks that, literally, flash on the screen, showing the memory Snake has of the original game. For example, when he sees an old, broken security camera gathering rust, the game flashes a vision of the same camera in the original Metal Gear Solid, functioning good as new. This happens several times as Snake walks around the iconic entrance to Shadow Moses.
On top of all this, small sounds clips are played from the first game. They are very subtle and sometimes almost unnoticeable, but when coupled with the rousing, familiar musical score playing in the background, the entire sequence will make the hairs on any Metal Gear Solid fan’s arm stand up straight.
After taking in all the surrounding memories, Snake eventually finds a way into the abandoned facility.
What follows is an Act that will go down in history as one of the most accomplished, ingeniously designed stages in videogame history. Snake infiltrates Shadow Moses, fights with new and old enemies alike, catches up with Liquid, and even boards and battles inside the Metal Gear Rex -- the same Metal Gear Rex he encountered in the original Metal Gear Solid.
As the Act comes to a close, Snake is beaten and bruised by everything that has occurred. Despite all his losses, he heads into the dramatic conclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4 more determined than ever to finally stop Liquid Ocelot once and for all.
You can watch Snake’s glorious return to Shadow Moses right here: (Keep in mind that a video does not do this moment justice. It really needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated.)
The Impact
Even though the game tells you ahead of time that Act 4 will take place in Shadow Moses, as a player, you have no idea what to expect until the grand reveal finally happens.
And, my gosh, that reveal is handled brilliantly.
The Act begins impressive enough, with Snake having a flashback of his experience in the original Metal Gear Solid. The use of old graphics and gameplay is absolutely incredible. To be honest, I originally thought the entire Act was going to play out using this presentation. When it is revealed to be just Snake’s dream as he is heading to Shadow Moses, though, it is surprising and still very satisfying. What felt like a dream actually is!
After dropping from the helicopter, Snake makes his way through an extended sequence in an unrecognizable mountainous area covered in snow. I knew that Shadow Moses in the original Metal Gear Solid took place on a snowy mountaintop, so I figured the entire level would revolve around this blizzard-riddled area. I never in my wildest dreams thought Snake would actually return to many of the same locations seen in the first game.
Oh how wonderful it was to be so wrong.
First off, choosing to start the Act in this none-too-familiar, almost generic setting is ingenious. It places the player in a state of confusion, just as Snake is confused about where he is in the thick snow.
But then it happens.
The moment Snake makes his way around the rock wall and sees Shadow Moses for the first time in years is almost indescribable.
It is a videogame moment for the ages.
Everything falls perfectly into place in this sequence, with creator Hideo Kojima being the reason it all works so well.
Every beat is meticulously structured to ensure the player is emotionally affected in just the right way. First, there is the obvious: the visuals. Seeing the scene meticulously recreated in fancy, high-def graphics is simply superb. And the entire environment is constructed exactly as it was in the original game. Every building, every staircase -- it is all the same.
Then the layers start to unfold as Snake makes his way around the helicopter landing area.
Sound bites from the opening sequence of Metal Gear Solid begin to echo with the harsh winds.
Flashbacks fill the screen showing moments so fondly remembered from the original Metal Gear Solid.
And then the kicker. The beautiful, haunting musical score flourishes to life, blossoming with equal parts emotion and nostalgia.
Hideo Kojima has a unique way of tearing down the fourth wall and making the player feel like they are part of the videogame experience that is happening on-screen. Instead of using (awesome) parlor tricks like with the classic battle with Psycho Mantis, with the Shadow Moses sequence, Kojima relies on a player’s memories of the original game to sync their emotions with Snake’s. As Snake sees everything on Shadow Moses and remembers what originally happened there, so to does the player.
Can you think of any other time this has happened in a videogame? It is very rare for a videogame sequel to revisit an old location to begin with, but even when they do -- as with Banjo-Tooie or God of War II -- the moment of revisiting is more harmlessly memorable than emotionally powerful enough to almost make you cry.
That is why Hideo Kojima is a genius and a master of the art of videogames.
And, yes, I said cry. There are many splendid moments in Metal Gear Solid 4, but no other touched my heart more. Granted, I am a giant fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, so I was already emotionally invested, but never before had the series done something that left me ... I don’t know ... speechless.
Seeing Shadow Moses in ruins, abandoned after all those years, was as devastating as it was magnificent. It truly made the series feel even more alive than it already had. It made all the events Snake took part in so many years ago feel real and significant. All the things that happened were written on the walls of Shadow Moses. Every moment Snake experienced remained a part of Shadow Moses’s troubled, haunted soul.
And you, as a player, feel all of this as you travel through the sad, empty facility -- mostly because of the memories that are triggered from seeing familiar sites, but, most importantly, because the game (under the brilliant hand of Hideo Kojima) weaves these memories for you.
Hideo Kojima is a twisted genius, this can be said regardless if you are a fan of the Metal Gear games or not. But with the return to Shadow Moses sequence, he really shows just how brilliant he is.
Metal Gear Solid 4 is a magnificently tragic masterpiece that, when you think about, bases a lot of its emotion on the memories of things past. Whether it be the reunion of old characters, the reliance on tried and true gameplay, or, in this case, the return to familiar locations, the game perfectly concludes an experience years in the making. Snake returning to Shadow Moses is the perfect example of this.
I get chills just thinking about.
----------
Thanks again for reading the fourth season of The Memory Card, everyone! All your comments and feedback mean so much to me. I love you all like a family I have never met. And, in my mind, it’s the most attractive family EVER!
Chad Concelmo is Destructoid's features editor. He loves hanging out with awesome people. That's why Destructoid makes him so happy, since it is full of THE MOST AWESOME PEOPLE OF ALL TIME! Also, dolphins.
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Chad enjoys punching old ladies in the face, Super Metroid, Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES (best system ever!), Final Fantasy VI, Day of the Tentacle, Shadow of the Colossus, Mother 3, Beyond Good & Evil, Contra III, Valkyria Chronicles, Punch-Out!!, Half-Life 2, and Super Mario Galaxy 2.
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Weird, I was just thinking about this moment earlier today and how insanely massive my smile was when the "flashback" portion of it occurred. Those moments that just make you sit back and smile really are special.
The flashback in MGS4 was one of the most brilliant and unexpected scenes I've ever come across in any game. That whole thing completely blew me away to the point where I paused the game and just repeated the phrase 'what the f*k.' It surpassed the final level in MGS2, which evoked the same reaction. The way MGS messes with your head is amazing.
The only problem I had with the flashback sequence? The Codec numbers I dialed all came back with No Response. Even Meryll's number from the back of the CD Case, which I was really hoping would dial up an amusing MGS1 ref, didn't do a thing.
I loved that scene, I wish I could of just explored the entire place again. Half way through it I wanted to go back and play the original Metal Gear so badly, but the insanely epic (and insanely ridicules)REX vs. RAY fight brought me right back into the current game, as well as Raiden being the biggest BAMF ever.
It's funny how moments like these really affect you. You never see them coming and when they are done right, you can never quite pinpoint what makes the moment so powerful.
One thing though, if you take down Metal Gear Rex in the first Metal Gear Solid game, how the hell is it still functional after being abandoned after all these years and how the hell can it go toe to toe with the superior Metal Gear Ray? That really bugged me.
The moment you come around that ledge, and the snow storm slowly subsides, and "The Best is Yet to Come" starts playing.... I.... I just lost it man. I just went and walk around the entirety of the helipad zone. I eventually just stood in the center of the helipad until a little bit after the song ended. Most paralyzingly emotional moment I've ever experienced during a game.
Just wanted to say that the statement "Having aged to the point of becoming wrinkly and gray because of the lethal biological weapon FOXDIE that runs in his blood," is incorrect.
Snake's old aging has nothing to do with FOXDIE. I believe this is literally said in the game. It's the way they made him.
That is my favorite moment of MGS4. I've been playing Metal Gear games since the 80's and while a flash back of some sort to the very first game(the MSX intro version preferably) would have been cool, it made much more sense with the story as well as fitting in with the Playstation era to have Snake revisit Shadow Moses. It was perfect. Nice choice Chad.
Oh also! Congrats on reaching 80 Chad! I'd buy you a drink of your choice if I were anywhere near your vicinity! So go buy one and pretend I bought it!
The score you keep mentioning is "The best is yet to come" and its also what plays during the credits of the orginal MGS. That theme was made the return to Shadow Moses all that more powerful, while the soundbites played over it.
I was working on writing something about playing as Snake, but honestly, you've totally covered it, and everyone knows why it was one of the most epic things ever!
I ended up getting a PS3 this year and MGS4 was one of the first games I played through to completion on it. Like Demtor I've been playing Metal Gear games since the 80's, and this game played my emotions so well. Its a fitting endpoint to a just legendary series of games!
Honestly, I was bothered that the place was overrun again. I cleared this place out fair and square 11 years ago!
This is my favourite moment of any Metal Gear Solid game, when they said you were going back to Shadow Moses, I expected you'd explore a new part of the island or something. I was so fucking amazed when you got to go through the old parts again.
I thought it was kinda sad to see that both Snake and Shadow Moses were pretty dilapidated and falling apart, both relics of a time long passed...
I'd also like to add I think one of the reasons this moment was so powerful for me, is because its not only Snake returning to Shadow Moses after 8ys. Its the player as well. It brought back so many memories for me of my first time playing MGS, what my life was like back then, and how much things have changed. Originally I thought the idea of going back to Shadow Moses was a weak idea, like he was just trying to milk the game. It wasn't until I got there that I realized what a masterpiece that act truly was.
Dear Chad,
Thanks for writing this article, it reminded me what real storytelling is about. Being an MGS fan, I was invested into this series from the start. Every step of MGS4 had me emotionally gripped. I've waited a decade, and Hideo gave us an epic, in japanese fashion; A robot battle between Rex vs Ray. As well as an amazing resolution to one of the finest series' I have ever experienced.
On a side note,
I thought the franchise was named "Metal Gear" and that 'Solid' was Solid Snake's story in the series. ex: After they stopped focusing on Solid Snake's story, I thought they'd call the next game "Metal Gear (something else)" or am I the only one that thought that way?
When I played this, I was years removed from Metal Gear Solid 1. But once I stepped onto the helipad, all of the memories of playing the original rushed back to me. I get goosebumps every time I play through this act.
I just finished this game. (got a PS3 for Christmas. ^_^) I'm glad to see I wasn't the only person who teared up (and quite a couple times actually) playing this game. This game may be the most touching thing I've ever played.
Brilliant read Chad. MGS4 is a great game by itself but it's an excellent game because of that sequence. I've recently finished the game for the 5th time and although the surprise is gone the feeling stays the same.
@FreakingWesley,
Good point! To be honest, I forgot a little about the ins and outs of what FOXDIE did to Snake when writing this. I was fairly confident, but a little unsure. Thanks for clarifying. When it comes to Metal Gear Solid, I am always a little confused. :)
I got choked up when the surveillance camera fell. I played the demo soooooo many time back in the day and I always joked about how shocked Snake was that a top secret military base would have cameras. I don't know, seeing that fall really hit home with me. We are getting older :D
I'm wondering if the scene would have less of an impact if "The Best Is Yet To Come" didn't play at the time, which is a song that really impacted my older brother and I when we beat MGS1. By the time we worked toward Shadow Moses and the song started playing...awesome.
@Jack Maverick: I don't think it would have the same impact if the song was missing. Sounds and especially music can stir up all sorts of emotions and memories similar to how certain smells conjure up old memories.
Best moment of the game for me and one of my most treasured moments as a gamer.
I'm not one of those people to go around screaming any one game is the greatest ever, my inner hype never goes that overboard, which is why my wife always was suprised I never shut up about this game even to this day as being....the greatest game I've ever seen. (she's never played it)
It's ironic that the one person to make art out of videogames is the very one to say games aren't art when he himself proved what an artist can do with this medium.
Of course, I'm pretty sure you need to be older in this case. Because obviously those out there who played the four Metal Gears all on day one are going to feel that emotional impact more than someone who played catch up with the series in the last two years or so.
The game plays with the passage of time, for the gamer not just the characters, that they manipulated nostolgia better than anyone else ever has.
Just like you, what sounds stupid on paper almost brought a tear to my eye with things like his flashback and it being the PSone game.
Although going from 4's great controls back into the PSone controls really made me wonder how the heck I played games back then. I was a mess, I hope they never retreat from from 4's controls again.
And that end boss fight with Revolver was pretty typical in a gameplay type of way, but because of the emotional connection to the series Hideo created, it sticks in my head as greater and more moving for me than any movie scene ever has.
And I'm a cold blooded guy, so for the game to reach even me on such a level is simply all the more credit they deserve as making what might be the only game to date truly worthy of being called a masterpiece.
yes! one of my favourite moments ever, even more so than the microwave room. I said in a forum post that it felt like shadow moses had aged with us. there are very few pitch-perfect moments in gaming and I think this is one of them.
Up to this point in my life I still say that Metal Gear Solid for the PS1 is still the greatest, and my personal favourite, game ever.
I played the hell out of it when I was in high school - pulling my first all nighter to beat it! However I kinda fell off the series after my PS1 days and while I played MGS2 on the original xbox, it never caught on with me like MGS1 did. I am also a little embarassed to say that I never had the chance to play MGS3 which is a crying shame.
However, after finding a shiny new PS3 under the Christmas tree this year, the first game I purchased was MGS4, and this weekend I think Im gonna pump some serious time into it and after reading this article I am expecting the world from this game!!! Just hearing the words 'Shadow Moses Island' brought back memories of the DARPA Chief's FOXDIE attack, Vulcan Raven and the tank battle, switching controller ports against Psycho Mantis, pounding my controller to survive Ocelot's torture, duking it out with Liquid on top of a burning MG Rex -and I can't ever foget the crazy battle with Grey Fox getting mangled by Metal Gear Rex...amazing stuff, if MGS4 is half the game that MGS1 was then this will be an epic weekend of gaming!
Now if only I could get a PS3 port of MGS3 I could die a happy gamer.
I felt the exact same way with that scene. Just entering that clearing, and seeing the snow clear, when the music begins, was such a powerful moment. I'm a long-time fan of the MGS series, and I only recently started and finished (in the one sitting, of course) MGS4. Almost every moment in MGS4 was extremely powerful to me, since I'm so attached to all of the characters.
Excellent write-up, Chad. Reading all of these comments also echos what I felt about the scene.
I completely agree with this article; but for me, the emotional climax of the return to Shadow Moses was the moment when you hear a flashback to Snake's voice from MGS1 saying "A surveillance camera?", and then the rusty old camera from 1998 falls to the ground... that moment just got me, for some reason.
There's a cool Easter egg here, too; if you rotate the camera so that it's directly above Snake, then run around on the heliport, he makes an amusing, fourth wall-breaking MGS1 reference.
The whole chapter 4 was awesome in my opinion- I liked how every one of the chapters in that game felt different- chapter 4 felt nostalgic and eerie to me.
"Can you think of any other time this has happened in a videogame?"
Plenty, though the first I can recall was Super Metroid, returning to Zebes through the escape route of the first game. The atmosphere has finally matured by the time Samus reaches the SNES, and you're given new impressions. The most important is time. The only mention of how long its been since the first Metroid is "It's been some time" in Metroid II's plot. Super Metroid begins right after II and before Prime was even conceptualized, the question became how long the Metroid continuity was as a whole. SM immediately gives you two conflicting images to unnerve you when you arrive at Zebes: The eye-cameras imply there's something sinister there (either that lingered after Metroid or came afterwards), but the ash still hasn't settled from the bomb that went off "some time" ago. You spend minutes retracing your steps from the first game, seeing the destruction you caused, but then finding that deeper below the surface, the planet was resilient. Zero Mission's ending, the ability to return below the surface right after the bomb, supported the theme that SM began.
my hairs literaly stood on end during that entire act. Well done Chad that was a great reminder that metal gear solid will always hold a special place in video games for me
What I additionally liked about The Return to Shadow Moses was that you got to explore some new areas of Shadow Moses previously never seen, but at the same time keeping you from others--the commander's office, database room, underground passage, Vulcan Raven battle, holding cells and torture room were all missing. Disappointing was that the PS1 test model was missing from Otacon's lab. Just a small nitpick, but at least even the ghost images return!
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Contest:
4:00 PM on 12.30.2009
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The only problem I had with the flashback sequence? The Codec numbers I dialed all came back with No Response. Even Meryll's number from the back of the CD Case, which I was really hoping would dial up an amusing MGS1 ref, didn't do a thing.
One thing though, if you take down Metal Gear Rex in the first Metal Gear Solid game, how the hell is it still functional after being abandoned after all these years and how the hell can it go toe to toe with the superior Metal Gear Ray? That really bugged me.
Goes without saying, great writeup Chad!
Snake's old aging has nothing to do with FOXDIE. I believe this is literally said in the game. It's the way they made him.
That of course first requires a first limestone to achieve the greatness of this.
Metal Gear Solid is still a franchise I need to try, but it´s so darn interesting.
I was working on writing something about playing as Snake, but honestly, you've totally covered it, and everyone knows why it was one of the most epic things ever!
I ended up getting a PS3 this year and MGS4 was one of the first games I played through to completion on it. Like Demtor I've been playing Metal Gear games since the 80's, and this game played my emotions so well. Its a fitting endpoint to a just legendary series of games!
Honestly, I was bothered that the place was overrun again. I cleared this place out fair and square 11 years ago!
I thought it was kinda sad to see that both Snake and Shadow Moses were pretty dilapidated and falling apart, both relics of a time long passed...
Thanks for writing this article, it reminded me what real storytelling is about. Being an MGS fan, I was invested into this series from the start. Every step of MGS4 had me emotionally gripped. I've waited a decade, and Hideo gave us an epic, in japanese fashion; A robot battle between Rex vs Ray. As well as an amazing resolution to one of the finest series' I have ever experienced.
On a side note,
I thought the franchise was named "Metal Gear" and that 'Solid' was Solid Snake's story in the series. ex: After they stopped focusing on Solid Snake's story, I thought they'd call the next game "Metal Gear (something else)" or am I the only one that thought that way?
i somehow feel Kojima has spend himself out now from 3 and 4. i don't expect rising to be a masterpiece, but i do expect it to be great nonetheless.
This is why you're one of my favorite editors.
Good point! To be honest, I forgot a little about the ins and outs of what FOXDIE did to Snake when writing this. I was fairly confident, but a little unsure. Thanks for clarifying. When it comes to Metal Gear Solid, I am always a little confused. :)
But I demand the *SPOILERS*
Microwave Hallway in Act 5 to be in the next season. That moment is better than anything in MGS4, IMO.
Um ... that moment is DEFINITELY coming. It is one of the coolest videogame sequences ever! :)
Great work Chad.
"A surveillance camera???"
It feels amazing when a game is able to affect someone so strongly and this game had several parts that sent me for an amazing roller coaster ride.
Best moment of the game for me and one of my most treasured moments as a gamer.
Thank you for your enlightening. You get a sarcastic Jim clap.
It's ironic that the one person to make art out of videogames is the very one to say games aren't art when he himself proved what an artist can do with this medium.
Of course, I'm pretty sure you need to be older in this case. Because obviously those out there who played the four Metal Gears all on day one are going to feel that emotional impact more than someone who played catch up with the series in the last two years or so.
The game plays with the passage of time, for the gamer not just the characters, that they manipulated nostolgia better than anyone else ever has.
Just like you, what sounds stupid on paper almost brought a tear to my eye with things like his flashback and it being the PSone game.
Although going from 4's great controls back into the PSone controls really made me wonder how the heck I played games back then. I was a mess, I hope they never retreat from from 4's controls again.
And that end boss fight with Revolver was pretty typical in a gameplay type of way, but because of the emotional connection to the series Hideo created, it sticks in my head as greater and more moving for me than any movie scene ever has.
And I'm a cold blooded guy, so for the game to reach even me on such a level is simply all the more credit they deserve as making what might be the only game to date truly worthy of being called a masterpiece.
Great writeup, Chad. Have a wicked new year!
I played the hell out of it when I was in high school - pulling my first all nighter to beat it! However I kinda fell off the series after my PS1 days and while I played MGS2 on the original xbox, it never caught on with me like MGS1 did. I am also a little embarassed to say that I never had the chance to play MGS3 which is a crying shame.
However, after finding a shiny new PS3 under the Christmas tree this year, the first game I purchased was MGS4, and this weekend I think Im gonna pump some serious time into it and after reading this article I am expecting the world from this game!!! Just hearing the words 'Shadow Moses Island' brought back memories of the DARPA Chief's FOXDIE attack, Vulcan Raven and the tank battle, switching controller ports against Psycho Mantis, pounding my controller to survive Ocelot's torture, duking it out with Liquid on top of a burning MG Rex -and I can't ever foget the crazy battle with Grey Fox getting mangled by Metal Gear Rex...amazing stuff, if MGS4 is half the game that MGS1 was then this will be an epic weekend of gaming!
Now if only I could get a PS3 port of MGS3 I could die a happy gamer.
Excellent write-up, Chad. Reading all of these comments also echos what I felt about the scene.
There's a cool Easter egg here, too; if you rotate the camera so that it's directly above Snake, then run around on the heliport, he makes an amusing, fourth wall-breaking MGS1 reference.
Plenty, though the first I can recall was Super Metroid, returning to Zebes through the escape route of the first game. The atmosphere has finally matured by the time Samus reaches the SNES, and you're given new impressions. The most important is time. The only mention of how long its been since the first Metroid is "It's been some time" in Metroid II's plot. Super Metroid begins right after II and before Prime was even conceptualized, the question became how long the Metroid continuity was as a whole. SM immediately gives you two conflicting images to unnerve you when you arrive at Zebes: The eye-cameras imply there's something sinister there (either that lingered after Metroid or came afterwards), but the ash still hasn't settled from the bomb that went off "some time" ago. You spend minutes retracing your steps from the first game, seeing the destruction you caused, but then finding that deeper below the surface, the planet was resilient. Zero Mission's ending, the ability to return below the surface right after the bomb, supported the theme that SM began.